Apparatus for raising or lowering the scenery of theaters.



PATENTED MAR. 10,, 1903.

E. LYTTON. APPARATUS FOR RAISING 0R LOWERING THE SGENERY 0F THEATERS.

APPLICATION TILED JUNE 19, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I0 KODEL.

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No. 722,597. PATENTED MAR. 10, 1903.

E. LYTTON. v

APPARATUS FOR RAISIIIG 0R LOWEEING THE SGENERY OF THEATERS. APILIOATION nun JUNE 19, 1902. 10 10mm. 2 sums-sum 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD LYTTON, OF BEDFORD PARK, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR RAISING OR LOWERING THE SCENERY 0F THEATERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 722,597, dated March 10, 1903.

Application filed June 19, 1902. Serial No. 112,394. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD LYTTON,theatrical manager, a citizen of England, residing at No. 18 Fielding road, Bedford Park, in the county of London, England, have invented a certain new and useful Apparatus for Raising or Lowering the Scenery of Theaters, (for which I have made application for a patent in Great Britain, dated November 29, 1901, No. 24,261; in Germany, dated May 15, 1902; in France, dated May 23, 1902, and in Austria, dated May 26, 1902,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for raising and lowering the scenery-such as scenery-cloths, borders, and'the like-in theaters and the like, and aims to construct an apparatus of thischaracter which shall be simple in construction, strong, durable, efficient in its use, and comparatively inexpensive to set up.

To this end the invention consists of the novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more specifically described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

By way of example I have shown on the accompanying diagrammatic drawings one arrangement for carrying out my said invention by the aid of electrical energy.

Figure 1 shows a cross-section of the stage of a theater and of the flies above with the requisite mechanism for operating the scenery according to my invention. Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal section of the same; and Figs. 3 and 4 show, respectively, a plan and sectional side elevation of some of the raising and lowering pulleys and the mechanism for actuating the same, to a larger scale.

a a a are the said raising and lowering pulleys, mounted loose on a fixed shaft 11. On each pulley is coiled a band or rope c which passes up to the top of the flies,where it branches into two parts, the one part c after passing overa guide-pulley cl being attached to the one side of a piece of scenery, which may be either a sky-piece 6, side pieces f, or a cloth or back scene g, while the other part c of the band passes from pulley 61 across the stage and over a guide-pulley d and is attached to the other side of the piece of scenery. If necessary, there may be intermediate points of attachment and corresponding branches of the rope or band. Thus on rotating pulley a in one direction or the other, and thereby eitherwinding up or unwinding the band 0 c, the piece of scenery will either be raised up from the stage into the flies or lowered down onto the stage, as may be required. Each pulley a has combined with it a worm-wheel h, which is in gear with a worm '5, fixed on a shaft j, by the rotation of which in one direction or the other the worm-wheel and pulley are consequently rotated in a corresponding manner, while on the cessation of such rotation the pulley and consequently the corresponding piece of scenery will be held securely in whatever position they have been brought by reason of the worm-wheel gearing affordinga sufficient lock. Motion is imparted at will to the shaft j for the above purpose in the following manner: On the floor of the flies on each side of the stage is mounted an electromotor lo, supplied with electrical energy from any suitable source and adapted to impart motion in one direction or the other to a shaft Z, extending from back to front parallel with the shaft of the pulleys a a. At each pulley a this shaft carries a loose skew-gear wheel m, gearing with a similar skew-gear wheel n on the shaft j, that actuates the pulley a. The wheel m is fixed to the one part of an electrical clutch 0 of any suitable known construction, such part being loose on the shaft Z, but prevented by collars from sliding thereon, while the other part of the clutch revolves with the shaft, but can slide thereonin being attracted to the other part by the action of the electroma nets in the known manner. The electromagnets of each clutch 0 are included in a separate electric circuit, the Wires of which are led down to a switchboard p on the stage, which board carries switches of any suitable known construction, whereby the circuits can be separately closed or opened, there being consequently as many switches on the board as there are pulleys a a on each side of the stage and each switch being marked with a number or other designation corresponding to the pulley and piece of scenery to which it belongs. At the side of the switchboard p is a starting, stopping, and reversing switch apparatus q, connected to the field-circuit of the motors 7c and arranged and operating in any suitable known manner, whereby either motor can be actuated so as to rotate the shafts Z in either direction.

From the above-described arrangement it will be seen that if, for example, it be desired to lower a cloth, such as g, a sky-piece, such as e, and side pieces, such as f, onto the stage from the flies the operatorat 0c first by means of the switch q starts the corresponding motor 7c and shaft Z in the direction required for lowering such pieces of scenery, and he then by means of the corresponding switches on the board 19 throws into gear the clutches 0 of the corresponding pulleys a a a, so that these are rotated by their respective shafts j and worm-gear 7i i for lowering the said pieces of scenery. This having been done the operator moves the switchesp so as to break the respective clutch-circuits, whereupon the pulleys a will remain stationary, holding the pieces of scenery in the positions into which they have to be brought. For raising these into the flies again the operator reverses the motion of the motor 76 and closes the clutch-circuits again, thereby causing the pulleys a to be rotated in the direction for winding up the pieces of scenery.

It will be obvious that for theaters requiring onlya moderate number of sets of scenery it would suffice to have a single motor and set of pulleys on one side of the stage. The object of providing such mechanism on each side of the stage where a large number of scenery sets are required is that these would have to be arranged so closely one behind the other that the pulleys a could not be arranged sufficiently closely side by side for working all the sets from one side of the stage.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangement is only given as an example of one mode of carrying out myinvention, as it will be evident that various other arrangements of mechanism may be employed for the purpose; Thus in place of electromotors directly actuating the driving-shaft of the raising and lowering mechanism motorengines of any suitable kind might be arranged below the stage and made to drive the shafts Z by suitable transmission-gear. Also instead of employing electrical clutches 0 friction-clutches worked by hydraulic pres sure conveyed through small pipes or even by mechanical transmission-gear can be employed.

Having thus described the nature of this invention and the best means I know of carrying the same into practical efiect, I claim- 1. In an apparatus for raising and lowering the scenery of theaters; the combination with a plurality of pieces of scenery, curtains or the like; of a shaft; a plurality of drums loosely mounted on said shaft; a plurality of connections between said drums and said pieces of scenery, curtains or the like, each connection extending from one of said drums to one of said pieces of scenery, curtains or the like; a worm-wheel on each of said drums; a rotating shaft; an electric motor for operating said rotating shaft; a plurality of electric clutches on said rotating shaft; a plurality of worm-shafts, each one meshing with the worm-Wheel on one of said drums; and means connecting each one of said wormshafts separately with one of said electric clutches.

2. In an apparatus for raising and lowering the scenery of theaters; the combination with a plurality of pieces of scenery, curtains or the like; of a shaft; a plurality of drums loosely mounted on said shaft; a plurality of connections between said drums and said pieces of scenery, curtains or the like, each connection extending from one of said drums to one of said pieces of scenery, curtains or the like; a worm-Wheel on each of said drums; a plurality of worm-shafts, each one in engagement with one of said worm-wheels; a rotating shaft; a plurality of electric clutches on said rotating shaft; means connected with each one of said clutches for throwingit into operative engagement with one of said wormshafts; an electric motor for operating said rotating shaft; means for starting, stopping and reversing said motor; a switchboard; and a connection between said switchboard and each of said electric clutches.

3. In an apparatus for raising and lowering the scenery of theaters; the combination with a plurality of pieces of scenery, curtains, or the like; of a shaft; a plurality of drums loosely mounted on said shaft; a plurality of connections between said drums and said pieces of scenery, curtains or the like, each connection extending from one of said drums to one of said curtains, pieces of scenery or the like; a worm-wheel on each of said drums; a separate worm-shaft for each of said wormwheels; a rotating shaft; means for starting, stopping and reversing said rotating shaft; and means for communicating the motion of said rotating shaft to each of said wormshafts separately from other worm-shafts.

4. In an apparatus for raising and lowering the scenery of theaters; the combination with a plurality of pieces of scenery, curtains or the like; of a shaft; a plurality of drums loosely mounted on said shaft; a plurality of connec tions between said drums and said pieces of scenery, curtains or the like, each connection extending from one of said drums to one of said pieces of scenery, curtains or the like; a worm-wheel on each of said drums; a separate worm-shaft in gear with each one of said my hand in presence of two subscribing witworm-wheeis; a motor; means for starting, nesses.

stopping and reversing said motor; and means for communicating the motion of said motor EDWARD LYTTON' 5 to each of said Worm-shafts separately from Witnesses:

JOSEPH MILLARD, EDWARD GARDNER.

the other Worm-shafts.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 

